Rivers of blood and sand

The annoying spongey black ground ended and had brown sands butting up against it. The sands led to a steep hill, going down at least a quarter of a mile. A sandy desert sat before us at the bottom of the hill, stretching out for at least a mile, where another steep incline led up to what appeared to be scraggly bushes. They covered every visible inch of the ground as far as I could see and appeared to be tall, even at this distance.

I hated how vulnerable we’d be if we entered the desert. Not only was it an open expanse of land, but we’d lose the high ground. “Maybe we should stay in the forest, we have more cover here than we will out there.”

Ander’s face was grim as his gaze met mine. “The nearest portal out of here is across the desert.” He pointed toward the bushes across the sandy plains and my heart sank. I hadn’t asked Ander why he’d been casting, figuring he wouldn’t tell me. I assumed he was reinforcing whatever spell he used to keep us safe. I hadn’t considered he would or could track the portal leading to an offering site.

If the distance between the portal into this fucked up place, and the portal out of it was similar to the distance between the portal and the offering site in our realm, then we still had a long way to go. No part of me wanted to end up in the fucked up grass of the offering site, but if that was our only way out of this place, then we had to take it.

Dropping my head back, I groaned and dragged my free hand down my face. “Okay, fine. Lead the way.”

Ander gave my hand a reassuring squeeze before guiding us onto the sand. On the bright side, the lack of cover in the desert meant that nothing could sneak up on us. Neither of the grotesque monsters were down there, so I took that as a good sign.

The sand shifting under my feet made it difficult to walk down the hill. Ander’s hold on my hand saved me several times from falling on my ass or worse, down the hill. He seemed to struggle less than me and it annoyed me to no end.

My thighs were burning by the time we made it down onto level ground, and sand had found its way into my boots. While I pulled them off one at a time and dumped out the sand—a waste of time since more sand would end up in them—Ander took a long drink from my water bottle since the only thing he had on him was the sword strapped to his back. To be fair, neither of us knew we’d end up here. My small travel pack only carried my drink, basic first aid, and a couple of daggers.

Ander chuckled softly and my entire focus shifted to him, and the small smile lifting his lips. “Jay would hate it here. She’d be cussing up a storm about how much she hates sand and how it serves no purpose.”

A smile spread across my lips at the thought of hearing her rant about sand. It would certainly lighten the mood.

Neither my dragon nor I were jealous of the fond smile Ander wore, and not just because Jade was mated to my brother. The way he talked about her, Harmony, and Ari, was how one talked about their younger siblings.

Not once did we let our guards down as we trekked across the flat expanse of sand that was warm, but lacked the true heat of a desert. Miles of desert stretched off into the distance on either side, making me wonder how big this place was. There were random spots in the sand that were deeper than the rest. One particular spot I stepped on had my leg sinking up to my thigh. I would’ve gone further if it weren’t for Ander grabbing my arm and pulling me up. After that, I was way more wary of where I stepped, but that still didn’t stop me from finding several more deep pockets.

We were about two-thirds of the way across when I faintly heard shifting sand. With the lack of breeze and how we stopped moving, I knew it was far from a good sign. Over fifty feet to our right, the surface of the sand rippled ever so slightly. Something was somehow moving under the surface. I didn’t know how it was possible or what it could be, but whatever it was, the thing was moving quickly and headed straight for us.

We didn’t even attempt running. Not on this sand and its random variations of depth. All we would’ve accomplished was falling on our faces, possibly drowning in the sand, and allowing whatever this thing was to be able to attack us from behind. For the time being, it was best we stood our ground. At least until we figured out if it was an animal or something else, and whether or not it had any friends. Being surrounded in this unstable terrain was one of the worst-case scenarios.

For the first time in hours, Ander released my hand. I didn’t have time to miss the feeling of his hand wrapped around mine, not with the impending attack on the horizon. With this unknown threat, I needed all my focus to be on staying alive and finding its weaknesses.

Ander and I unsheathed our weapons, making sure to have a good hold on them. I doubted they’d be easy to find if they fell into the sand. It wasn’t like we had an abundance of weapons on us. While Ander could materialize weapons, he couldn’t do it with any that had been strengthened or enhanced with magic. Basically, the ones you wanted to use when in an unknown place, and facing unknown monsters.

I couldn’t say what I expected to emerge in a spray of sand, that had me shielding my face, but it definitely wasn’t what I saw. Over ten feet in front of us, a mutated shark-like thing dove out of the sand, opening its mouth and exposing its insanely sharp teeth as it headed for us.

Ander and I barely had time to dive to opposite sides to avoid the oncoming attack. For the most part, it was shaped like a shark, just bigger than an average-sized one. Rather than being gray or white, it was covered in thick brown and yellow scales, good for blending into the sand. Moving through the sand was a whole lot different than the water and the changes to its body reflected that. The fins were wider, thicker, and more paddle-like than a normal shark’s.

After its failed attempt, the shark dove into the sand again. My heart was racing as I stared at the place the shark disappeared, unable to see a shift in the sand. “What the fuck is that thing?”

“I was hoping you would know,” Ander shot back as he moved close to me, watching the sand carefully.

While it might seem ridiculous to some how wary we were of a fucking shark, it wasn’t like the ones from the human realm. They’d be no real threat to us if it tried to attack. But this thing was breaking the rules of sharks—that being they lived in the fucking water, not sand—and it was over 60 feet long.

We repeated the dance of it diving out of the sand, us barely avoiding its sharp teeth that were nearly the size of my forearm. Any injury from it would take a while to heal without help, something we didn’t have time for or the energy to spare.

Ander’s sword sliced through its side after he sidestepped its attack. With how thick the scales were, I half expected he wouldn’t be able to cut it, but he did. Deep red blood gushed from the wound, looking like dried blood, which shouldn’t be possible.

The next time it attacked, it aimed for me rather than Ander, probably assuming it would have an easier time against me. Wrong. Instead of diving to the side, like it expected me to, I dropped to my knees and raised my short sword. Once again, I expected resistance, but my sword easily sliced open its stomach in one long swipe. I wasn’t able to completely avoid its blood, but at least it wasn’t all over me. My sword arm and shoulder were covered in a good deal of the stale and rotten-smelling blood.

The shark convulsed on the sand that was now soaked in its blood. Ander drove his sword down through its head, ceasing its movements. While Ander bent down next to the shark, observing its oddities, I eyed the sand. I was pretty sure it was alone, but I still kept my senses on high alert. Just in case.

When Ander abruptly stood and took several steps away, I rushed over to him, worried I’d been wrong and it had a friend.

Good news, there wasn’t a friend making an appearance. Unfortunately, the bad news was that the shark was once again moving. Sort of. Its body was convulsing, bones snapping with loud cracks, and as it did, the scales began vanishing and changing to light brown skin. Its front fins lengthened into what I realized were arms. The tail shrank and separated into two legs, and it wasn’t long before the shark was gone. In its place was a man. A naked man that was far from normal.

For the most part, his skin was a light brown, ashen in a way that suggested he hadn’t seen the sun in a long time. Short white fur sprouted along his shoulder, and long fluffy black fur was on his lower back. Random patches of scales of different colors, and shapes also appeared on his skin.

What in the actual fuck?

To make matters worse, the hole in his head, and the gashes on his side and stomach were slowly knitting back together. At the rate it was going, he’d be fully healed within ten minutes, and I was rounding up.

In a move born of shock at panic, I lunged toward the healing body and chopped off its head. Neither of us needed to say anything, we grabbed each other’s hands and took off toward the unexplored side of the desert. If that thing could heal that fast, I had little doubt it could somehow heal from a decapitation. Call it instinct, but I had a feeling every monster here would be a pain in the ass to kill. Which was why we needed to get out of this place as soon as possible.

Our rush caused us to find several deep pockets that significantly slowed down our progress. Sand had found its way inside my clothes, in my hair, and sticking to my skin in multiple places. I was beginning to understand Jade’s disdain of it.

If I thought going downhill was rough, it was nothing compared to going uphill, especially since I was trying to run. I was clawing at the sand with my free hand, trying to find some traction to help pull me up faster. My breaths were a lot faster than they should’ve been and my legs burned from the exertion.

Hopefully, the ground in the next area was solid, because I wasn’t sure I could take any more of this type of shit.

My released exhale at making it up the hill without being attacked was premature, my excitement dulled by the sight ahead of us. They weren’t scraggly bushes, but a wall of thorny bramble that stood over twenty feet tall.

Letting out a string of colorful curse words, I glanced back at the sand, trying to decide which option was worse. I mean, it wasn’t like we could walk through a wall of thorn-covered bushes. I didn’t like our chances of being able to hack through it, not without getting scraped up in the process.

“There’s an opening over there,” Ander said after casting again, his blood a familiar scent.

I didn’t question him or his magical abilities, if he said there was an opening, then there was an opening. As we walked along the strip of hard-packed dirt between the bramble and the desert, Ander made sure he was the one closest to the thorns.

We’d been walking for several minutes when I saw something that had my stomach sinking. Or rather, it was what I didn’t see that was the problem. I’d been careful to keep looking at the desert, more specifically, the hopefully dead body. Until now, it had been in the same spot, unmoving. Every time I looked back and still found him lying there face down in the sand, I allowed myself to believe he was truly dead.

“Ander,” I whispered, tugging on his hand to get his attention. “He’s gone.”

Ander’s body tensed as his head snapped toward the desert, but no matter how hard we stared at the blood soaked sand, the “man” wasn’t there. With how he could change into a shark that could swim under the surface of the sand, I knew he could be nearby, waiting to attack and we’d never know it.

We’d slowed to a stop in our search for him, but now our pace picked up, and I all but sprinted to be able to keep up with Ander. After several more minutes of running, my pulse pounding in my neck as I glanced around Ander—he’d switched our positions so that he was the one closest to the desert—I was both relieved and terrified when I didn’t see a shark or a man.

When we finally came across the opening, I could’ve cried out in relief. It wasn’t a big opening, maybe five feet wide, certainly not wide enough for us to walk side by side. At least it was wide enough that we’d be able to go through it without having to walk sideways or worry about being torn up by the thorns in the process.

An internal debate flashed in Ander’s eyes as he glanced between the bramble and the sands. “I’ll go first, but you have to promise me you’ll stay close behind me and not wander off.” He tilted my head back with two fingers, his piercing gaze holding mine captive.

I nodded the best I could with the way he tilted my chin back, but it didn’t seem good enough for him. “I mean it Starling, right behind me.” Even though we should be moving right now, I couldn’t stop my pulse from racing as butterflies took flight in my stomach at hearing him say my name.

“I promise,” I whispered, my throat suddenly dry and I doubted it had anything to do with the desert or the exertion I just put my body through. This was all Ander and the effect he somehow had on my mind and body.

His eyes briefly scanned my face before he released my chin and entered the path between the thorn-covered bushes. Keeping my promise, I kept close to his back, as close as I could without walking on his heels.

I kept glancing behind us every few minutes as we followed the pathway, which had many twists and turns. So far I hadn’t heard or seen anything. The shapeshifter man, the blood mage woman, and the skeletal man were nowhere to be found. I wanted to believe that was a good thing. Even though I knew better, and knew we hadn’t seen the last of them.

As if I couldn’t help myself, I reached out and took a hold of Ander’s left hand that had been at his side. He jolted for a moment, surprised that I was the one initiating contact since I never had before. His hand flexed for a second before he adjusted our grip and threaded his fingers through mine.

My other hand was pressed against his back and it was like I couldn’t help myself, like I needed to be in contact with him at all times. Which sounded really pathetic, but despite all my efforts I was getting in too deep to care. I wouldn’t borrow problems from tomorrow. Right now, I was living life to the fullest and being in the moment. With how we were in a strange land, being hunted by beings we didn’t understand, the present was all we had.